Vapor bath apparatus



y A, A.

G. METZGER vAPoR BATH APPARATUS Filed Jan. 13, 193e Patented May 26,1936 UNITED STATES VAPOR BATH APPARATUS Grace Metzger, Tulsa, Okla.

Application January 13, 1936, Serial No. 58,962

9 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in vapor bath apparatus of thetype embodying a cabinet within which the patient may sit in an erectposition with his or her head or with the upper portion of his or herbody disposed outside the cabinet, and means to discharge steam or othervapor into the cabinet at the bottom of the latter so that the portionof the patients body within the cabinet will be subjected to the actionof the vapor or steam rising therein.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a vapor bathapparatus of the above kind which is extremely simple in construction,eiicient in use, and convenient and easy to use.

A more specific object of the present invention is to provide a bathapparatus of the above kind including a novel cabinet which is composedof telescopicallyassociated sections so as to be adjustable in heightfor accommodating persons of different heights and to permit use of theapparatus for the treatment of patients with either part of the body andthe head or with the head alone disposed outside the cabinet.

Still another` object of the present invention is to provide means forsuspending the upper sectionof the cabinet and facilitating the ease ofvertically adjusting the same. v

Other objects will become apparent from the following description whenconsidered in connection with the accompanying drawing, and theinvention 'consists in the novel form, combination and arrangement ofparts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in said drawing, and

claimed. A

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a bath apparatus embodying the presentinvention, and illustrating one manner 'of using the apparatus.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary view showing the cabinet in vertical sectionand illustrating its use ina different way or manner.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the cabinet as shown in Figure 2, partlybroken away; and

Figure 4 is a horizontal section on line lI-lI of Figure 2.

Referring more in detail to the drawing, the present bath apparatusincludes a cabinet, preferably of cylindrical form and constructed ofsheet metal, and composed of a lower section 5 and an upper section 6slidably telescoped over said lower section 5. It will thus be apparentthat by raising and lowering the upper section Ii,

the cabinet may be adjusted as to height; The body portion of the lowersection 5 is provided at the front with a door 1 hinged to swingoutwardly to open position, and the upper section 6 of the cabinet maybe completely removed from and elevated some distance above the lowersection 5 so as to permit opening of the door 'I and facilitate entranceof the patient into the cabinet. 5 The upper section 6 of the cabinet isprovided with a relatively large opening through which the head or theupper portion ofthe patients body may project when the upper section 6of the cabinet is lowered and partially telescoped 10 onto the lowersection 5, as illustrated respectively in Figure 2 and in Figure V1.Adevice is provided to partially close the opening 8 and snugly embracethe patients neck or body, so as to prevent undue escape of vapor fromthe cabinet when in use. This device preferably consists of a pair ofplates adapted to be simply laid upon the top of the upper cabinetsection 5 in edge to edge relation and provided in their adjacent edgeswith mating notches which cooperate toy form the desired restrictedopening. The plates used to provide a neck opening when only thepatients head is disposed outside of the cabinet as illustrated inFigure 2, are shown at 9 and Ill in Figures 2 and 3, while the platesused to pro- 25 vide a larger opening for the body of the patient whenthe latter is disposed with a portion 'of his 4or her body outside thecabinet as in Figure 1,'are indicated at 9a and Ilia in Figure l. Theadjacent edges of these plates may be provided with hooked flanges sothat the plates may be detachably interlocked as generally indicated atII, thereby preventing accidental separation of the plates and therebyinsuring their retention in snug relation to the neck or body of thepatient.

An advantage of this closure is that it permits the patient to readilyrise for allowing excess heat or hot vapor to rapidly escape from thecabinet and prevent injury to the patient if necessary under abnormalconditions. Obviously, should the patient rise, the plates 9 and III orl9d and Illa. will simply be lifted up from the topi of the uppercabinet section 6 so as to fully uncover the relatively large opening 8in the upper cabinet section.

The upper cabinet section 6 is disposed by a plurality of flexiblemembers or ropes I2 attached to the top of the upper cabinet section 6at equi-distantly spaced points about the periphery of the latter and bymeans of suitable brackets I3, said flexible members or ropes I2 passingupwardly over guide pulleys I4 attached to the ceiling or other suitableover head support, and all of the flexible members or lropes I2 inturnvhave their upper ends connected to a further flexible member orrope I5 that extends laterally around a further guide pulley I6 whereits depending end portion has a counterweight II secured thereto. Theweight I'I simply counterbalances the upper cabinet section 6 so as topromote the ease of vertical adjustment of Said cabinet section 6 andmaintain it in any of its vertically adjusted positions. This isimportant because it permits direct movements of the upper cabinetsection 6 to the desired vertically adjusted position with theexpenditure of a minimum amount of effort, and so that one attendant mayproperly take care of the patient in an expeditious manner. No actuationof a distant winding drum is required for vertical adjustment orelevation o-f the cabinet section 6.

An L-shaped perforated manifold I8 is provided within the bottom of thelower cabinet section 5 to discharge steam or other vapor into thecabinet beneath and at the back of the patient who may be seated withinthe cabinet upon a stool or the like as indicated by dotted lines at I9in Figure 2. The manifold I8 has a shorter vertical arm attached to theback of the body portion of the lower cabinet section 5, and a longerhorizontal arm attached to the bottom wall of the lower cabinet section5 and extending forwardly diametrically of said bottom wall as shown inFigure 4, so that the legs of the stool I9 may readily straddle saidhorizontal arm of the manifold. The lower cabinet section 5 is providedat the back with an inlet nipple 2U communicating with the vertical armof manifold I8 and connected by a pipe or conduit 2I with a suitablesource of steam or other vapor located outside of and a short distancefrom the cabinet. A suitable steam generator or source of supply ofsteam may consist of an ordinary gas stove 22 resting upon the floornear the cabinet, and a water tank 23 disposed on this stove and havinga top steam outlet connected by the pipe or conduit 2 I with the inletnipple 20. Obviously, the heat from the burners of stove 22 will convertthe water in the tank 23 to steam, which steam will in turn be conductedfrom the top of tank 23 to the manifold I8 by means of pipe 2|, thesteam ultimately escaping from the manifold I8 through the perforationsin the arms of said manifold both at the back of and beneath the patientseated in the cabinet. The escaping steam will of course rise in thecabinet and the patients body will be subjected to the action thereof.Any water of condensation settling within the bottom of the lowercabinet section 5 may be suitably withdrawn or removed when foundnecessary or desirable.

In using the present apparatus, the upper cabinet section 6 will belifted clear of and some distance above the lower cabinet section 5, theoperator being assisted in raising the upper cabinet section by means ofthe weight I'I. The Weight Il will also maintain the upper cabinetsection 6 in this elevated position, and upon opening the door 1, thepatient may readily enter the loWer cabinet section and assume a seatedposition upon the stool I9. The upper cabinet section 6 may then begrasped and readily lowered to the desired position, either as shown inFigure 2 or as shown in Figure 1 depending upon the desired manner ofuse. When the upper cabinet section has been telescoped onto the lowercabinet section with the door 'I closed, and adjusted to the desiredposition, it will remain in that position. The partial closure plates 9and I0 or 9a, and Illa are then applied about the patients neck or bodyand allowed to rest upon the top of the upper cabinet section 6,whereupon the apparatus is ready for use. It is then simply necessary tosupply the desired steam or Vapor to the manifold I8.

What I claim as new is:

l. In a bath apparatus of the class described, the combination of acabinet composed of a lower section and an upper section slidablytelescoped onto said lower section, the upper section being formed withan opening in the top thereof, of cables suspending said upper cabinetsection and having a counter weight connected thereto to facilitateelevation and vertical adjustment of said upper cabinet section bydirect manipulation of the latter, and to maintain said upper cabinetsection in any position to which it is elevated or vertically adjusted.

2. In a bath apparatus of the class described, the combination with acabinet composed of a lower section and an upper section slidablytelescoped onto said lower section, the upper section being formed withan opening in the top thereof, of cables suspending said upper cabinetsection and having a counterweight connected thereto to facilitateelevation and vertical adjustment of said upper cabinet section bydirect manipulation of the latter, and to maintain said upper cabinetsection in any position to which it is elevated or vertically adjusted,said lower cabinet section having a front door, and a manifold fordischarging steam or vapor into said cabinet including a vertical armattached to the lower cabinet section at the back of the latter and ahorizontal arm attached to the bottom of the lower cabinet section andextending forwardly diametrically of said bottom.

3. In a bath apparatus of the class described, the combination of acabinet composed of a lower section and an upper section slidablytelescoped onto said lower section, the upper section being formed withan opening in the top thereof, of cables suspending said upper cabinetsection and having a counterweight connected thereto to facilitateelevation and vertical adjustment of said upper cabinet section bydirect manipulation of they latter, and to maintain said upper cabinetsection in any position to which it is elevated or vertically adjusted,and means for partially closing the opening in the top of the uppercabinet section comprising a pair of plates resting on the top of theupper cabinet section and detachably connected in edge to edge relation,said plates having mated notches in the connected edges thereofcooperating to form a restricted opening adapted to snugly surround aselected portion of the patients body.

4. In a bath apparatus of the class described, the combination with acabinet composed of a lower section and an upper section slidablytelescoped onto said lower section, the upper section being formed withan opening in the top thereof, of cables suspending said upper cabinetsection and having a counterweight connected thereto to facilitateelevation and vertical adjustment of said upper cabinet section bydirect manipulation of the latter, and to maintain said upper cabinetsection in any position to which it is elevated or vertically adjusted,said lower cabinet section having a front door, and a manifold fordischarging steam or vapor into said cabinet including a vertical armattached to the lower cabinet section at the back of the latter and ahorizontal arm attached to the bottom of the lower cabinet section andextending forwardly diametrically of said bottom, said lower cabinetsection further having an inlet nipple at the back thereof communicatingwith the vertical arm of said manifold and providing means forconnecting said manifold with a source of supply of steam or vaporlocated outside the cabinet.

5. In a bath apparatus of the class described, the combination of acabinet composed of a lower section and an upper section slidablytelesooped onto said lower section, the upper section being formed withan opening in the top thereof cables suspending the said upper section,and a counterbalance means to facilitate raising and lowering of saidupper section and to hold the latter in the various raised or loweredadjusted positions thereof.

6. A bath apparatus as described in claim having a door in the bottomsection, a steam distribution manifold within the lower section, andmeans for generating steam and conveying such steam to said manifoldwithin the cabinet.

7. In a bath apparatus of the class described, the combination of acabinet composed of a lower section and an upper section slidablytelescoped onto said lower section, the upper section being formed withan opening in the top thereof, of cables suspending said upper cabinetsection and having a counterweight connected thereto to facilitatevertical adjustment of said upper cabinet section by direct manipulationof the latter,

and to maintain said upper cabinet section in any position to which itis elevated or vertically adjusted, and means for partially closing theopening in the top lof the upper cabinet section.

8. In a bath apparatus of the class described, the combination of alower section and an upper section telescopically engaging the lowersection, the upper section being formed with an opening in the topthereof, of cables suspending said upper cabinet section and having acounterweight connected thereto to facilitate vertical adjustment ofsaid upper cabinet in relation to said lower cabinet section andproviding means to maintain said upper cabinet section in any positionto which it is elevated or lowered vertically, said lower cabinetsection having a door, a manifold for discharging and distributing steamor vapor into said cabinet, and means to generate and convey said steamor vapor to said manifold.

9. A vapor bath cabinet, formed of upper and lower sectionstelescopically arranged for relative vertical adjustment, the uppersection having an opening in the top thereof, a means of entrance toan-d exit from the cabinet, a means for generating vapor and conveyingand distributing such vapor into the cabinet, and a counterbalance meansto facilitate relative vertical adjustment of said cabinet sections.

GRACE METZGER.

